See Also

At $50,000, last year's buy-in for the World Series of Poker Players' Championship—the highest-rolling event—was considered preposterously steep, a figure that might never be topped. But then $250,000 buy-ins began cropping up, with single-digit entrants.

There's a kick though. Of the $48 million pot, around $5 million, or roughly 11 percent of the winnings, will go to the One Drop Foundation, The Big One founder Guy Laliberte's cause célèbre. Laliberte, the man behind Cirque de Soleil, has campaigned for years to ensure that children across the world don't go thirsty and have access to clean water.

The tournament is comprised of 29 professionals and 19 big-time businessmen. A lot of them are names you've heard of, too.

On the poker side, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Gus Hansen will all be taking a seat at the table. On the money end, David Einhorn heads a list of venture/financial-minded tycoons with a passion for high-stakes poker.